Current methods of repair of segmented bones, such as fractured or osteotomised bones in a mammalian body involve moving or reducing a portion of the bone, generally the distal portion of the bone, either by grasping the bone portion with a human hand or clamp or attaching a pin to the bone portion and grasping the pin with a hand to move the bone portion. These methods often include making an incision through the skin of the patient and then drilling into the bone, then moving the bone portion by hand into position and holding the bone portion once positioned. Other methods may include a large incision in the tissue surrounding the bone for viewing and manual alignment of the bone portion, as well as manual affixation of the separated bone portions. Unfortunately, such methods are imprecise and are often physically hard on the patient and the surgeon. Other current methods include utilization of a screw advanced through a targeting jig and bone plate into the bone portion, whereby rotation of the screw in the bone portion cause the bone portion to be drawn toward the bone plate, namely, causing the bone portion to move relative to the bone plate in a direction generally perpendicular to the plate, so as to reposition the bone portion. Unfortunately, such screws often can not move the bone to the plate due to the position of the bone or move in an oblique fashion causing the screw to bend and, on occasion, break.
What is needed in the art is an apparatus and assembly that is not highly invasive for repositioning percutaneously portions of a segmented bone to permit securement of the bone to a bone plate or other corrective device in a measured, precise, and reproducible manner.